Leaked prices for Microsoft Surface reveal the tablet will not undercut Apple's iPad, as the entry-level 32-gigabyte model will cost $499.

At $499, Microsoft Surface will match Apple's starting price for the third-generation iPad with Retina display. Microsoft's entry-level offering will have twice the capacity of Apple's 16-gigabyte iPad, but the Surface also has a lower resolution 1,280-by-720-pixel 10.6-inch screen.

The basic model also comes without a touch cover, TechCrunch revealed on Tuesday. The keyboard cover accessory will be available with the Surface tablet for $599, while a top-of-the-line 64-gigabyte model with touch cover will run $699.

Microsoft's leaked pricing also confirms an earlier rumor that initial Surface hardware would be Wi-Fi-only. Apple also offers its iPad with cellular data connectivity at a $130 premium over the Wi-Fi models.

Microsoft has high hopes for the Surface, and plans to produce between 3 million and 5 million units in the fourth quarter to sell during the holiday season, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. That's said to be comparable to orders that Amazon placed for its Kindle Fire as well as Google's orders for Nexus 7 tablets.

However, market leader Apple is said to have ordered 10 million units for its anticipated "iPad mini" ahead of the holiday shopping season. Apple's smaller 7.85-inch iPad is expected to expand its tablet lineup, joining the existing full-size 9.7-inch model.

Microsoft Surface will go on sale next Friday, Oct. 26, alongside the new Windows 8 operating system. But the Surface will run its own unique OS known as Windows RT that is designed for devices powered by ARM processors.

While Windows 8 for traditional X86/64 processors will be available at retail, Windows RT will only be available preinstalled on PCs and tablets powered by ARM processors. Windows RT includes touch-optimized desktop versions of Microsoft Office, but will not run traditional third-party applications designed for Windows 8 PCs.

The Microsoft Surface will target the high end of the tablet market while Apple is expected to venture into the lower end with its new 7.85-inch model with a lower price point. Currently, Apple's entry level iPad is the $399 16-gigabyte iPad 2.

To be honest, this looks really desirable at first glance (or on the 'surface' heh), but I'm so weary about how well it'll be executed. On the hardware side, I wonder how well the tactile feedback will be on that cover, how much wear it can take, or how dirty it'll get. As for performance, I like to see how it stacks up in terms of battery life etc. Looks great as a concept, but can't wait to see how well it actually does.

Seeing this is the price for RT tablets, how much will the full fledged Win8 one be? Several hundred more at the very least I imagine, putting it above iPad pricing.

Full Microsoft Office, USB ports, microsd card support, uHDMI for video out, file browser, flash support, mouse support, double the capacity of the same price iPad. Heck adding a 32GB microsd card for less than 30 USD and you get a 64GB device for less than 600 USD.

oh..and there are way cheaper Windows 8 options than Surface. The Iconia W510 with ATOM is the same price as the 32GB Surface with all the feature set and the 16GB iPad .

To be honest, this looks really desirable at first glance (or on the 'surface' heh), but I'm so weary about how well it'll be executed. On the hardware side, I wonder how well the tactile feedback will be on that cover, how much wear it can take, or how dirty it'll get. As for performance, I like to see how it stacks up in terms of battery life etc. Looks great as a concept, but can't wait to see how well it actually does.

Seeing this is the price for RT tablets, how much will the full fledged Win8 one be? Several hundred more at the very least I imagine, putting it above iPad pricing.

It seems to be all rubber coated. Maybe you can put it in the dish washer. That at least would be interesting.

Full Microsoft Office, USB ports, microsd card support, uHDMI for video out, file browser, flash support, mouse support, double the capacity of the same price iPad. Heck adding a 32GB microsd card for less than 30 USD and you get a 64GB device for less than 600 USD.

oh..and there are way cheaper Windows 8 options than Surface. The Iconia W510 with ATOM is the same price as the 32GB Surface with all the feature set and the 16GB iPad .

Will that mean that any non-MS tablet running WRT will start at around $ 599 since they'll have to pay for a licence? Of course, it's just a 'design-release' and manufacturers can do whatever they like...

Full? really - they pulled that old trick when they went head to head against palm devices back in the day. People jumped from the (at the time) very capable Treo to some windows pocket OC because it offered MS Office. Now the palm office products (from various suppliers) were in fact more capable, and more compatible with the 'pocket' version of word, excel etc.. but slick marketing made it seem like you got FULL office features and compatibility.

Now another thing you get with Apple, are that you buy apps for you phone - and they are available across all devices.(I know you can get enhanced versions for iPad - but even the iPhone versions will work) How will this work with the RT versions of surface, v the windows 8 versions. You gotta buy mutliple copies?

So I buy an expensive package on my Windows 8 surface, but at work I would like to use same software on more powerful desktop - do I have yo buy it twice?

Wow one of the negative comments about the surface is "The basic model also comes without a touch cover, TechCrunch revealed on Tuesday. The keyboard cover accessory will be available with the Surface tablet for $599". This is part of the conversation comparing it to the ipad, but the ipad doesnt come with any accessories either? If you want the smart cover for the ipad you are looking at another $40-70, if you want a bluetooth keyboard cover for the ipad you are looking at another $100, so why put down the surface for not including an accessory? if it was including it wouldnt be considered "an accessory". Thus it definitely is undercutting the ipad on price.

Question will be how the Interface works. Or more importantly, how great will it be to 'produce content' (since the problem with the iPad is that it 'can't' product content). As soon as I see Word 2013 on there or PowerPoint running, and people raving about it, THEN I'll allow myself to be impressed.

Remember, At all the news events about this, non M$ people were not allowed to touch/interact with the device.

The price is right for the time being. If the unit is functional, then we'll see if Apple lowers the umbrella.

I may, for the first time, actually enter the MoA M$ store to touch one. In my current job, mobile devices are the future, and we are a M$ shop on the network (AD/Exchange/Office/TMG), but Oracle/Java(serverside) for the apps. I'm seriously looking at a device that the organization can accept (We love Macs, but due to compliance reqs, iPads don't cut it [endpoint DLP and AV... yeah, I know... it's a checkbox issue, but the head of Risk Management doesn't know security, just checkboxes], so if M$ can get us closer to that, I have to look at it).

Wow one of the negative comments about the surface is "The basic model also comes without a touch cover, TechCrunch revealed on Tuesday. The keyboard cover accessory will be available with the Surface tablet for $599". This is part of the conversation comparing it to the ipad, but the ipad doesnt come with any accessories either? If you want the smart cover for the ipad you are looking at another $40-70, if you want a bluetooth keyboard cover for the ipad you are looking at another $100, so why put down the surface for not including an accessory? if it was including it wouldnt be considered "an accessory". Thus it definitely is undercutting the ipad on price.

You're post is dead on about everything but the last line. It is undercutting the 32gb by $100- that's true. But even taking the OS and App store out of the equation (Apple's biggest advantage), that retina display that the surface doesnt have has to account for some serious $ the other way.

Let me see... Same price as the iPod... plus $100 for the only available protective cover that you must remove when not using the tablet (huh?)... essentially no software... first generation OS and hardware... Lots of Monkey boy promises that may or may not ever see light of day. Lastly, one billion dollars of advertisements showing users throwing their Surface tablets overhand while generally acting like they lost their minds...

"That (the) world is moving so quickly that iOS is already amongst the older mobile operating systems in active development today." — The Verge

Wow one of the negative comments about the surface is "The basic model also comes without a touch cover, TechCrunch revealed on Tuesday. The keyboard cover accessory will be available with the Surface tablet for $599". This is part of the conversation comparing it to the ipad, but the ipad doesnt come with any accessories either? If you want the smart cover for the ipad you are looking at another $40-70, if you want a bluetooth keyboard cover for the ipad you are looking at another $100, so why put down the surface for not including an accessory? if it was including it wouldnt be considered "an accessory". Thus it definitely is undercutting the ipad on price.

IMO, it's because the marketing around the Surface makes the cover a big selling point. The ads focus on the cover a lot, so it builds the expectation that it is part of the device. Then you see a starting price of $499, (possibly) get excited, then see the 'real' starting price for what you were shown is actually $599. There's a disconnect there that TechCrunch is pointing out

You're post is dead on about everything but the last line. It is undercutting the 32gb by $100- that's true. But even taking the OS and App store out of the equation (Apple's biggest advantage), that retina display that the surface doesnt have has to account for some serious $ the other way.

for corp accounts, OS and App store are non-starters.

The bigger issue is whether or not I need 32GB... can I live on a corporate LAN or MS-VPN and have full access to my network drives, and/or Office365.com.

But no cellular technology out of the box? to paraphrase the above football analogy... this is like coming into the 2nd half of a game behind 70-0 with a great ground game, but no QB or wide receivers... 'Mobile' requires that ubiquituous access.

Wow one of the negative comments about the surface is "The basic model also comes without a touch cover, TechCrunch revealed on Tuesday. The keyboard cover accessory will be available with the Surface tablet for $599". This is part of the conversation comparing it to the ipad, but the ipad doesnt come with any accessories either? If you want the smart cover for the ipad you are looking at another $40-70, if you want a bluetooth keyboard cover for the ipad you are looking at another $100, so why put down the surface for not including an accessory? if it was including it wouldnt be considered "an accessory". Thus it definitely is undercutting the ipad on price.

I think because there were so many posts and rumors about MS going in at the entire thing for $200-$300 keyboard cover included. By keeping silent for so long on price, people let their imagination run wild with baseless speculation.

Full Microsoft Office, USB ports, microsd card support, uHDMI for video out, file browser, flash support, mouse support, double the capacity of the same price iPad. Heck adding a 32GB microsd card for less than 30 USD and you get a 64GB device for less than 600 USD.

oh..and there are way cheaper Windows 8 options than Surface. The Iconia W510 with ATOM is the same price as the 32GB Surface with all the feature set and the 16GB iPad .

Overlooking the hyperbole and what will likely prove to have been misleading remarks (e.g., "Full Microsoft Office"), let's go straight to the cold hard reality that this thing is probably DOA, just like WinPhone 8 is going to be DOA. The HW & SW quality is likely going to be crap. (No hands on demos to date, and they are releasing this when?) The keyboard (Again, no hands on demos to date) is probably going to suck too. But, beyond that, there isn't going to be much in the way of quality software available, with only a couple of thousand apps that Microsoft had to pay developers to write (or port) and aren't likely to get supported past their initial releases. The overall user experience will suck as well, because Microsoft's user experience always sucks. And, lastly, Microsoft ran out of mindshare at least 5 years ago, and no one really cares that it's from Microsoft. If anything, that's one or two strikes against it.

This thing looks interesting that add was ok Altho, does anyone remember that the ipad 2 had an add with the smart cover were the clicking sound was used to enhance the music. I personaly found those adds more tastfull this is kinda glee meets ipad commercial. I just dont know if i see people buying this thing over an ipad. Its just kinda blah at this point. Its main features are things the tablet was supposed to free us from. And the magnetic smart cover is a blatent ril off. Minus the meyboard part, wich i see we are all waiting for the verdict on. With no tactile feedback tho and not even a click or a fade, ike we get on an ipad screen when we tap a button it remaines to be seen weAther it will be of any use. I would also like to know if anyone has problems with typing on there ipad. I dont ? I am also good with touch screens. How is it for everyone els ?

IMO, it's because the marketing around the Surface makes the cover a big selling point. The ads focus on the cover a lot, so it builds the expectation that it is part of the device. Then you see a starting price of $499, (possibly) get excited, then see the 'real' starting price for what you were shown is actually $599. There's a disconnect there that TechCrunch is pointing out

It's attacking the iPad "it's only a consumption device"

Personally, if the SW is GREAT, the iPad will not be eroded as much as netbook sales. And at this point, for M$ to stay shareholder viable, gaining $100+ revenue per Windows seat sold is more important than staunching iOS. M$ used to print money... and they will face the wrath if Android/ARM tablets become the OEM's tool of choice over Intel based netbooks.

This thing looks interesting that add was ok Altho, does anyone remember that the ipad 2 had an add with the smart cover were the clicking sound was used to enhance the music. I personaly found those adds more tastfull this is kinda glee meets ipad commercial. I just dont know if i see people buying this thing over an ipad. Its just kinda blah at this point. Its main features are things the tablet was supposed to free us from. And the magnetic smart cover is a blatent ril off. Minus the meyboard part, wich i see we are all waiting for the verdict on. With no tactile feedback tho and not even a click or a fade, ike we get on an ipad screen when we tap a button it remaines to be seen weAther it will be of any use. I would also like to know if anyone has problems with typing on there ipad. I dont ? I am also good with touch screens. How is it for everyone els ?

The logitech cover almost doubles the width of the iPad (The cover is 250% thicker than the surface cover), it requires a battery, is heavy (takes the weight of iPad from 1.4 to 2.2 lbs), and uses bluetooth.

The Surface one is super thin, light and integrated.

Why all the hate? It's not the same as a third party Apple one- not even close. Let people get some hands on reviews- it might suck horribly- then we can dogpile. But let's tap the breaks on "The iPad has the same thing" bus...

I just don't see this taking off. There is an MS store in Atlanta so I may check it out. This just feels like MS is coming into a football game when the score is 70-0 and all they have is a field goal kicker. The best tablet out there behind the iPad is the Asus T700 and even that is a very distant second.

With the recent iPhone release, a new iPad mini and a possible 13" Macbook Pro with retina display this month the Surface launch is going to have a hard time getting press.

I was just going to say that. Microsoft is figuratively skating to where the puck has been, not to where it will be. Apple is about to kick it in another gear with the release of the Mini. I say it will take all of the oxygen out of Microsoft's fire (well, except for the typical Microsoft fans who are just as rabid as us fanboys.)

This thing is so DOA, it isn't even funny anymore (or as funny as it was a few months ago.)

I agree 100%. The interface is absolutely horrid and unusable and has failed on the Zune and Windows Phone already. How much more money are Microsoft's shareholders going to let Ballmer piss away on yet another failure.

Why all the hate? It's not the same as a third party Apple one- not even close. Let people get some hands on reviews- it might suck horribly- then we can dogpile. But let's tap the breaks on "The iPad has the same thing" bus...

Overlooking the hyperbole and what will likely prove to have been misleading remarks (e.g., "Full Microsoft Office"), let's go straight to the cold hard reality that this thing is probably DOA, just like WinPhone 8 is going to be DOA. The HW & SW quality is likely going to be crap. (No hands on demos to date, and they are releasing this when?) The keyboard (Again, no hands on demos to date) is probably going to suck too. But, beyond that, there isn't going to be much in the way of quality software available, with only a couple of thousand apps that Microsoft had to pay developers to write (or port) and aren't likely to get supported past their initial releases. The overall user experience will suck as well, because Microsoft's user experience always sucks. And, lastly, Microsoft ran out of mindshare at least 5 years ago, and no one really cares that it's from Microsoft. If anything, that's one or two strikes against it.

You might ultimately be correct, but you and none of us have any idea about it's software or hardware or its quality because, as you said, "no hands on demos to date". After that, nothing you say has any evidence backing it up.

This is different from the original iPad, which I bought sight-unseen based on SJ's demo of it, the hype on TV shows (such as Modern Family), and the real fact that the iPhone and iPodTouch had been out with proven quality, and the iPad was going to be at least the quality of a big iPhone/iPodTouch. MS has none of this going for it in pushing the Surface and a history of failed deliverables. The absence of evidence in favor of the Surface along with a history of failure by MS does not bode well for this product; I can't condemn it yet, but given MS's prior history and the lack of substantive information so close to release, I give its probability of success at a generous 10%.

The interface is absolutely horrid and unusable and has failed on the Zune and Windows Phone already.

I gotta tell you, I just downloaded the latest MSN app update and they've adopted the whole Windows 8 colored blocks scheme ... It's an absolute bloody nightmare. Seriously it's distracting to the point where I don't know what I'm reading, or where to look. Apple has made some UI changes that I haven't appreciated, but I gotta hand it to Em, they KNOW how to design a useable UI.

Who wants to take bets MS will change this whole colored blocks thing within a year of launch? And it will look like OS X?

Don't see how this is different from Apple. If you buy Pages for the iPhone, you don't get a free copy of pages for your iMac do you?

iOS and OSX share some similarities under the hood but are visually distinct (Launchpad excepted, but that isn't the default view) and run on very distinct hardware - iPhone / iPad vs Macbook / iMac - so there is much less of an immediate assumption that an app from one should work on the other.

From what I've seen of Surface (and let's face it - nobody has really seen that much in any detail) the Windows RT and Windows 8 versions have almost identical looking hardware running identical looking (but incompatible!) operating systems, both marketed as a single "Surface" brand.... I can see that bringing a whole heap of confusion and complaints when an app bought for one Surface fails to run on the other seemingly identical Surface because 2 letters stamped in small print on the back are different...

Surface 32GB - 499 USD
Full Microsoft Office, USB ports, microsd card support, uHDMI for video out, file browser, flash support, mouse support, double the capacity of the same price iPad. Heck adding a 32GB microsd card for less than 30 USD and you get a 64GB device for less than 600 USD.

oh..and there are way cheaper Windows 8 options than Surface. The Iconia W510 with ATOM is the same price as the 32GB Surface with all the feature set and the 16GB iPad .

Yes, but if this is the low-end consumer model, how much will the entry level pro model be that will run a full version of Windows 8?

This seems more like a netbook to me. I mean, MS has no apps, and will probably be a good two years before they have any kind of Eco-system to compete with Apple or Android (once developers know this thing isn't going to fail). So the only people truly interested in this thing are going to be those who are looking for a laptop replacement in order to use Office, with an optional keyboard and mouse (a mouse which btw will have to be carried around separately). But netbooks can be had for so much less. MS knows their base so well.

Who wants to take bets MS will change this whole colored blocks thing within a year of launch? And it will look like OS X?

Nobody. They didn't change the color scheme of windows XP or Vista, why should they follow what Apple does when a lot of people are going to buy this anyway. Only a fraction of people buy Mac don't forget.